Washing machine



O. B. WOODROW Mayl 24, 1927.

WASHING MACHINE Patented May 24, 1927.

OLIVER B. WOODRO'W, OF NEWTON, IOWA.

WASHDTG MACHINE.

Application med August 9, 1926. Serial No. 128,281.

My invention relates to that class of washing machines in which there isprovided an upright tub open at its top and means for imparting anoscillatory motion to the tub through an arc of less than a halfrevolution, and in which there is also provided a series of impellerblades on the interior of the tub movable with it for imparting motionto the water and clothes contained in the tub.

The object'of my invention isto provide an improved form of impellerblades for washing machines of the character described, and 'whereby inuse these impeller blades impart to the water and clothes within the tubsuch relative movements as will result in removing foreign matter fromthe clothes in a minimum of time, withouty injury to delicate fabricsbeing operated upon, and without. entangling or twisting various fabricswithin the tub, and whereby a washing process ma be done in a moreconvenient, economica and facile manner than has been possibleheretofore.

My invention consists in the construction of the impeller blades, and intheir arrangement and combination with the tub, whereby the objectscontemplated are attained, as hereinafter more full set forth, pointedout in my claims, and il ustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Fi re 1 shows a top or plan view of a washing machine embodying myinvention, a portion of the cover thereof being removed to illustratethe interior construction. In this figure, the fabrics being operatedupon are illustrated in position.

Fi ure 2 shows a vertical, central, sectiona view through the washingmachine on the line 2--2 of Figure l; and

Fi re. 3 shows a detail, vertical, seotiona view on the line 3-4-3 ofFigure 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference'numeral 10 to indicate generally a washing machine tub having a bottom11 and a removabley cover 12. This tub is preferably supported upon abase 13 rotatively mounted in a stationary ysupport 14.- Mounted uponthe stationaryy support 14 is a crank 15 and a pitinan 16 connects thecrank with the base 13, whereby upon a rotation of the crank 15 anoscillatory movement is imparted tothe tub through an arc of a circle,hereinafter more specifically defined; The parts heretofore describedare of the ordinary construction now in common use. Hence furtherdetailed description is unnecessary.

On the interior of the tub I have provided a series of impeller bladespreferably equally spaced apart, and each blade has its base portionfixed in position adjacent to the side wallsof the tub. These impellersare indicated generally by the reference numeral 17. The base or outerportion of each impeller is substantially triangular in outline. havinga maximum width at its bottom and a minimum width at its top. Its sidewalls taper also from a maximum at their outer edges to a minimum attheir inner edges, as clearly shown in Figure 1. The inner or narrowedge of each impeller is preferably arranged substantially verticallywithin the tub and the angles of both sides are substantially the same.In the drawings I have shown these impellers as being formed integralwith the sides of the tub. I have, however, formed them of independentpieces secured to the tub.

In practical operation with my improved washing machine, and assumingthat water and garments are placed within the tub, and that the'tub isbeing oscillated throu h an arc of a length equal to that of the ottedline 18- in Figure 1, that is to say, with the length of the arc oftravel slightly greater than the length of the space between twoadjacent impellers, and assuming further that the impellers are spacedequidistance within the tub as shown, then the action of the impellersupon the water is as follows: When the impellers are moved toward theright, as shown by the arrows 19 in Figure 1, then the water adjacent tothe right side of each impeller is moved to a certain extentcircumferentially of the tub, and the water immediately adjacent to theright side of the impeller blade is moved rapidly upwardly las shown bythe arrows 20 in Figure 3, thus throwing portions of the water in theform of jets or s rays upwardly and toward the center of tie tub, asshown in Figure 2. This will cause currents of water to pass downwardlythrough the center of the tub, as shown by the arrows 21 in Figure 2,and when numerous downward currents are set up in the central portion ofthe tub, ob-

viously they will canse currents to pass out- One of the importantresults in connection with this movement of the currents of water isthat the currents of water that pass downwardly and outwardly from thecenter of the tub serve to convey garments from the center of the tubtoward the sides thereof. However, the action of the jets of water beingthrown upwardly and inwardly from the impellers is such that these jetsof water do not carry with them the garments that are adjacent to thesides of the tub, hence during the action of the tub, the garmentsremain suspended in the water and spaced apart from the center of thetub. In this connection, attention is called to the fact that there isno obstruction in the center of the tub which might in any way tend toprevent this desirable action.

In actual practice I have observed through repeated tests that when, forinstance, a single fabric, such as a handkerchief, is placed 1n a tubcontaining my improvement, and the tub is operated, the handkerchiefwillremain for an indefinite period between the particular pair of impellersto which it was first forced by the outwardly moving currents of water;and I have also observed that when the tub is filled with very heavyfabrios, such for instance as gunny sacks, a relatively small space atthe center of the tub is left open without any fabric in it, and al1 ofthe contents of the tub are arranged between or adjacent to theimpellers.

In addition to the foregomg, and in practical use, the impellers impartto the fabric being cleaned another action, to-wit: When an impeller,such for instance as the one shown at the top of Figure 1, is movingtoward the right, and the fabric shown in that fi re is held toward theouter part of the tlil as before described, then this impeller creates acurrent of water moving circumferentially of the tub toward the right,and this causes that portion of the fabric adjacent to said impe ler tobe squeezed together, as illustrated in said ligure. At the same timeanother action takes place adjacent to the impeller shown at the rightin Figure 1. This impeller, by moving in a direction away from thegarment, creates a partial vacuum or a reduced pressure in that art ofthe tub adjacent to the top side of t e impeller at the right in Figure1, and this causes currents of water to flow toward said impeller, thusopening out that ortion of the fabric adjacent to said impel er. Inactual practice I have observed that when the impellers are movingtoward the right, that portion of the fabric adjacent to the forwardside of each impeller 1s being compressed, while that portion adjacentto the rear side of each impelle'r is being lengthened out. Then upon areversal of that movement, a reversal of the action on the fabric takesplace, and the partI that waspreviously squeezed together is opened out,and the part that was previously opened out is squeezed together, andthis is done without any actual rubbing action of the impellers upon thefabric. The fabrics at substantially all times are not in actual contactwith the impellers, because of the currents of vwater being moved by theimpellers away from. them, thus keeping the garments free from rubbingaction against the impellers.

I am aware that impellers have been used heretofore consisting of flatblades extended inwardly from the sides of the tub. Such impellers,however, do not have the advantageous functions of my improvedimpellers, because they tend to throw the water and garments inwardlytoward the center of the tub, where they become massed and are notsubjected to the alternate squeezing and opening-up action beforedescribed.

I am also aware that heretofore impellers have been arranged atdifferent angles relative to a. vertical line within the tub but such imvellers do not perform the advantageous function of my improvedimpellers, because they tend to move the garments circumferentiallyaround the interior of the tub, and also up or down, and do not have theadvantageous action of my improved impellers, because they do notperform the function of keeping the fabrics suspended adjacent to theouter part of the tub and from the center, and they do not alterawanately compress and extend the fabrics between two adjacent impellers.

I have demonstrated that when the length of the oscillatory stroke ofthe tub is just slightly greater than the distance between two adjacentimpellers, excellent results are produced, but when the oscillatorystroke is made considerably longer than this, the fabrics have a tendencto move from one space between the impe lers to other spaces, and duringsuch movement the alternate compression and extension of the fabrics isnot so extensive as when the oscillatory stroke is substantiall likethat illustrated in the drawings. Furt ermore, I have demonstrated thatwhen the oscillatorystroke is considerably less in length than the spacebetween two adjacent impellers, vthen the al` ternate compression andextension of the garments is less and not so effective in cleaningclothes..

I claim as my invention:

1. In a washing machine, the combination of a substantially upright tub,means for impartin an oscillating rotary movement to the tu and a seriesof im ellers in substantially upright position a jacent to the interiorwall of the tub, the sides -of said impellers being'tapered from amaximum width at their lower ends to a 'minimum width at their `upperends, for the purposes stated.

stantially upright position adjacent to the interior wall of the tub,the sides of said impellers being tapered from a maximum i width attheir lower ends to a minimum width at their upper ends, said impellersbeing also tapered from a maximum width adjacent to the wall'of the tublto a minimum width at their inner edges.

3. In a washing machine, the combination of a tub arranged in asubstantially vertical position, means for imparting an oscillatingrotary movement to the tub, and a series of impellers therein, eachformed with two sides widely spaced apart near the bottom of the tub,and being inclined upwardly and toward each other and arrangedsubstantially equidistant from a vertical line through the center of theimpeller.

4. The combination with a tub arranged in an upright position, of aseries of impellers spaced substantially equidistant from each other,and each fixed in position adjacent to the upright inner wall of the tubin a substantially vertical position, and each having two sides spacedapart near their lower ends and inclined upwardly and toward each other,said sides also being spaced apart a considerable distance adjacent tothe wall of the tub and being inclined toward each other at the inneredge of the impeller, and means for impartin an oscillating rotarymovement to the tub of a length somewhat greater than the space betweentwo impellers, for the purposes stated.-

OLIVER B. woonnow.l

